See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ISABELLA MACHIN, REPORTER Published: 22:35 BST, 10 September 2026 | Updated: 23:06 BST, 10 September 2026
Five baby orangutans have been found abandoned in a forest in India, far away from their natural habitat, sparking fears they may have been trafficked. The apes, who are native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, were discovered in the Ranakatha Protected Reserved Forest in the Balasore district of Odisha state, eastern India.Footage captured the orangutans sitting together on the forest floor and eating bananas, thousands of kilometres away from their native home, after they were spotted by locals – who alerted officials.The young animals are believed to be two females and three males, all under the age of one. Their discovery on Tuesday prompted an investigation into whether they were trafficked into the country by an international smuggling network and abandoned. Forest officials believe they had been in the spot, which was near a highway, for between two and three days. No other orangutans were found nearby. The group were given first aid before being taken to Nandankanan Zoological Park in the state capital, Bhubaneswar, where they have been quarantined and are being monitored. The young orangutans are believed to be adjusting well, playing with stuffed toys resembling orangutans. Balasore District Forest Officer Pratik Prakash Indalkar said the animals could not have travelled to Odisha by themselves and are believed to have been driven there.'The five animals were found in Ranakatha, a proposed reserve forest in Bhogarai block, near the West Bengal border,' he told the BBC. Five baby orangutans have been found abandoned in a forest in India, far away from their natural habitat, sparking fears they may have been trafficked'The area is covered mainly by casuarina trees and is not a dense forest. It is also close to a state highway.'It is understood India's Wildlife Crime Control Bureau have been asked to investigate. Police, forest officials and a special task force are also involved in the probe. Orangutans typically stay with their mothers for several years, while mothers only give birth once every eight years. There are three surviving species of orangutan – the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli – all of which are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.Their populations have fallen dramatically over recent decades due to deforestation, habitat destruction and hunting.The international commercial trade of orangutans is banned under Cites, the global treaty that regulates the trade of endangered species. They are also protected by Indian wildlife legislation.Nevertheless, orangutans are still illegally trafficked, often to be sold as exotic pets or to private collectors.It is not the first time young orangutans have been discovered in India. In 2022, two infant orangutans were found abandoned at a checkpoint near the Assam-Mizoram border. Authorities believed the animals had been smuggled into the country via neighbouring Myanmar.Do YOU have a story? Email isabella.machin@dailymail.co.uk
